The Sacramento rockers hadn’t recorded new material in six years. So, to get back to recording, they got back to their roots — as in, stripped down the process and see what rocks. The result was “Simplicity,” a 14-track album that dropped in June.

“It seems like the older we get, simplifying our lives is a better thing,” says Frank Hannon, lead guitarist for Tesla, which performs Saturday as part of the Budweiser Grand Nationals weekend. “Just a minute ago, I was trying to get a coffee cup that I wanted out of a cupboard (at home). But there were 10 in the way, and I never use any of them. Life gets cluttered.”

Breaking through in 1986 with “Mechanical Resonance” (“Modern Day Cowboy,” “Little Suzi,” “Gettin’ Better”), Tesla became known for straight-ahead, no-glam rock. In more recent times, the band tried polish to its rawness. But for “Simplicity,” the band decided to streamline the effort entirely to seek an earthier tone. First, band mates sequestered themselves in a rural ranch in Virginia to focus on writing songs for two weeks. Straightaway, they headed to Sacramento to the studio run by bassist Brian Wheat, giving each song only one day of recording to give a throwback feel.

“Tesla is an old-fashioned, rock-and -roll band,” says Hannon, 47. “We’re influenced by Lynyrd Skynyrd. We’re not influenced by Avenged Sevenfold. We just tried to be ourselves.”

The album offers a classic Tesla tone, with meaty ballads (“So Divine”) mixed with heavy guitars (“Ricochet”). But you can find surprises, especially “Cross My Heart,” which bounces along Hannon’s boogie-woogie piano-plinking, akin to Bill Payne of Little Feat. Hannon, known mostly for his guitar shredding, hadn’t done much with the keys.

“I dabble in all kinds of music,” he says. “It sounded (on “Cross My Heart”) almost like barrelhouse.”

All in all, the album nicely melds the talents of the quintet, 80 percent of which remains the same — including singer Jeff Keith and drummer Troy Luccketta — since the beginning. Guitarist Dave Rude replaced troubled Tommy Skeoch in 2006, but otherwise Tesla (which disbanded for a half-dozen years in the mid-’90s) feels harmonious, Hannon says.

“We’ve really come to appreciate our differences,” he says. “Each guy brings his own elements. And we’d rather be together than apart. We tried that.”

They’ve also tried — and now enjoy — a more productive touring and performance regimen.

Page 2 of 2 - “We’ve also realize alcohol is a very destructive thing in our organization,” Hannon says. “We don’t drink on stage. We don’t drink on the bus.